"Why... why did it have to be you two..."
"This is... a nightmare..."
"K-K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K..."
Every last one of the kids had lost their minds, drowning in despair over K and Kyoko Kirigiri's deaths.
Saionji most of all. Wearing the blank, shattered expression of someone whose soul had already caved in, she staggered up to their cold bodies and shook them over and over, as if sheer refusal could drag them back. But no amount of desperate trembling could revive K and Kyoko Kirigiri after bullets had torn straight through their heads.
"...Damn it!! Why did it have to be you two...?!"
"If only... instead of wasting time on some stupid duel... you'd just sacrificed yourselves right away..."
Nidai and Tanaka regretted it now, but regret was a joke told too late.
"It's... it's my fault... If only I'd steeled myself earlier... and carried out my promise with young master..."
"I... don't deserve to be a leader... I couldn't even keep one promise—to protect everyone. What right do I have to stand here and..."
Pekoyama muttered through tears, while Pigami stood there hollow-eyed, mumbling like his spirit had already slipped loose from his body.
"To call myself the princess of a kingdom when I couldn't even protect a single friend... how absurd. In the end, I really was nothing more than a pitiful, fragile girl..."
"I... I can't even force my energy up anymore... This is... way too sad, isn't it..."
Sonia had begun lacerating herself with bitter self-mockery, while Mioda abandoned her usual positivity and choked back sobs.
"Damn it... you two were always glued together... and now you're stuck together even in death...?"
"I-If... if I'd been more competent... If I'd treated Kuzuryu's wounds better... even a little... If I'd held onto Saionji tighter... It's all... all my fault... all of it..."
Souda muttered in a drained, empty voice, while Tsumiki collapsed to the floor and clawed at her own hair, drowning in self-recrimination.
"While I was whining about being hungry... you guys were thinking about sacrificing yourselves for everyone... Seriously... I'm such a hopeless idiot..."
"K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K... K..."
Owari stared ahead with a grim face, cursing her own stupidity, while Hanamura wept openly as he looked at the two of them.
"I... I always thought... someday... I'd take a picture of you smiling... and keep it forever..."
Koizumi approached them, her whole body trembling violently.
"...I mean, you're still smiling now... but... I can't take a picture of this, can I...?"
Just as Koizumi said through her tears, K and Kyoko Kirigiri were smiling with their eyes closed.
Watching them, Hinata murmured:
"The ones who were supposed to shine... weren't me. It was you two."
And so, as they stared at the pair who would remain forever frozen in smiling death, everyone sank deeper and deeper into despair.
"...Don't you think you're all being a little too much?"
".....?"
That is, everyone except one person.
"K and Kyoko Kirigiri didn't sacrifice themselves so they could watch you all end up like this. Idiots."
".....!"
Nanami accepted every gaze turning toward her with calm composure, then spoke.
"So we have to keep moving forward. Just like their last words said. Toward a blinding future."
With that solemn declaration to the others, Nanami quietly picked up K and Kyoko Kirigiri's E-Handbooks, then muttered inwardly:
'Right, K? Kyoko Kirigiri?'
On both E-Handbooks, a message was displayed:
.
.
.
.
.
Now then, let's rewind the clock for a moment so everyone can understand exactly what happened here.
It was back when the others had carried Kuzuryu to a guest room, and we were left to deal with the aftermath of Saionji. In other words, when we were still bickering over who would go into the Final Dead Room.
"...If you're going to be like that, then we'll both go in. Happy now...?"
"...Haaah. If that's how it has to be..."
In the end, we decided to enter the Final Dead Room together. First, we left Saionji in her room—she was sprawled on the floor, trembling uncontrollably, too far gone to even think straight—then stepped out.
Normally, I would've tried to talk to her, maybe calm her down. But this wasn't a normal situation. Every second mattered. If we didn't sacrifice ourselves quickly, Kuzuryu would die, and Saionji, panicking and unstable as she was, would be executed as the blackened.
So we headed straight for the Final Dead Room without another moment of hesitation.
"...This place?"
"...Just as I thought. It's the same."
The structure of the Final Dead Room was exactly the same as in the game. Naturally, I already knew the answer too, so the puzzle itself didn't take long to solve.
The real problem was the Russian roulette that had to be cleared afterward.
"I'll do it and bring back the weapon. So—"
"No. I'm the one doing it. This is the one thing I won't compromise on."
Sure, the odds were only one in six, but dying before we could even make our sacrifice wasn't exactly an appealing prospect. As a result, we spent more time arguing over who would take the Russian roulette than we did solving the puzzle.
"...K, don't die. If you die, we die together. If you die here, I'll kill you myself."
"Kyoko, I'm telling you, it'll be fine..."
According to the random trivia rattling around in my head, the odds of dying on the first shot in Russian roulette are actually pretty low. Because of the bullet's weight, when the chamber spins, the round tends to settle downward.
'Even aside from that... it's one in six. There's no way I'd actually die... right...?'
After feeding myself that flimsy little self-hypnosis, I took a deep breath, squeezed my eyes shut, and pulled the trigger—
"S-Stopppp...!"
"M-Monomi...?"
"If you pull the trigger right now... you'll dieee...!"
".....!?"
I had no choice but to freeze mid-motion when Monomi suddenly burst out of nowhere.
"Monomi...! Where the hell have you been? We have a lot to talk abou—"
"I'm sowwy... I don't have much time lefttt..."
"...What?"
Looking at me and Kyoko Kirigiri—both of us too stunned to react properly—Monomi began speaking with visible strain.
"First... right now... I'm using one of my administrator privileges... a see-through function... so spin the chamberrr... yes, that's good... now it should be safe to fireee..."
"Th-Thanks... I think...?"
When I thanked her on reflex, Monomi stamped one foot lightly, then forced herself to continue.
"I just... activated a blocking functionnn... so from this point on... Monokuma can't perceive what happens hereee... Of course... it takes a huge amount of power... so the time I've been given... will become even shorterrr..."
"W-What are you trying to say...?"
"Now... I'll say what I came to sayyy... please listen to me for a little while..."
Her voice growing weaker by the second, Monomi began telling us everything.
"There's... a hint for the escape codeee..."
"The escape code!?"
"Yesss... I've already changed one object... and delivered it to all of you... did you noticeee...?"
"You already gave it to us...?"
"As I thought... you still... hadn't noticed... My authority wasn't enough to hand it over openly... so of course... you wouldn't realize it was a hinttt... But... if I wanted to avoid Monokuma noticing... I had no choiceee..."
"So what the hell is it, then...?"
"The object I changed is... ugyaaaaaaaahhh!!!"
"M-Monomi!?"
Monomi, who had been speaking with painful effort, suddenly twisted her whole body and began rolling across the floor.
"Changed... changed object—still not noticed—ugya—just as I thought... still... ugyagyagya..."
"Wh-What's wrong with you...?"
"A-About—to be—totally destroyed—ugyagya—can't hold on—anymore—"
"D-Damn it...! No...!"
If Monomi broke apart without even giving us the hint, then we were staring straight into absolute hopelessness. I grabbed her in a panic and shouted:
"Monomi!! The hint—what's the hint!?"
"Changed—changed—obj—object—object is—"
After thrashing in my grip for several agonizing moments, Monomi finally forced the words out.
"Roller—roller coaster—roller coaaasterrrr—"
"Wh-What...?"
"If the code—is entered—then automatically—activates—if consciousness is lost—or if you die—automatically—escape—"
"Monomi!! Stay with me!!! Please!!!"
"Roller—coaster—automatic activation—if consciousness breaks—if you die—escape—"
"Monomi!! No—Usami!!!!!"
"Save—everyone—"
Bzzzt—crackle—
And with those fragmented, broken words left behind, Monomi crumbled apart.
"Upupupu... who would've thought she'd make one last desperate struggle with the hidden fragments of her Magical Stick..."
The instant Monomi shattered to pieces, Monokuma popped up and started talking.
"But Monomi really is hilarious... Her final act of resistance was using x-ray vision on the chamber so she could safely shove her own allies into a room packed with murder weapons. Isn't that just comedy gold? Upupupupupu...!!!"
"....."
"But why are you two here, anyway? Don't tell me... you're planning a murder? Who're you gonna kill? Kuzuryu, who's practically dead already? Or Saionji, who's in full panic mode? Or maybe... no way, are you here to sacrifice yourselves?"
"....."
"Upupupupupu!!! What's with those faces?! You look terrifying!!! It was a joke, a joke! Don't take it so seriously...! More importantly, what a tragedy, huh...? That was Monomi's last life, you know... Now I'll never get to see my little sister Monomi ever aga—"
"Get lost."
"Upupu! I was just about to!! I'm busy looking for something, after all!! Where the heck did she hide it...? Upupu..."
Grumbling as he scratched his head, Monokuma vanished somewhere.
"Monomi..."
"....."
After Monokuma disappeared, we were left alone with the wreckage of Monomi. We stared at her broken remains and clenched our teeth hard enough to crack them.
"...K, so? Any thoughts?"
"Hm? What do you mea... oh."
For a second, Kyoko Kirigiri's abrupt, contextless question left me blinking in confusion. Then I realized what she meant.
She was asking about the final hint Monomi had left us. Of course, I still hadn't grasped its meaning, so I answered carefully.
"Not yet... What about you?"
"Just a little."
At that, Kyoko Kirigiri gave the faintest upward curl of her lips. Only then did I feel a little relieved as I picked up the gun.
"Then... here goes?"
"...Yeah."
And so I cleared the absurdly tensionless Russian roulette, then stepped into the prize room.
.
.
.
'As for weapons... two handguns should do it.'
I picked up two weapons that would make it quick and painless. Then, just as I was about to leave the prize room, I paused.
'Monomi... in the end, for our sake...'
Monomi—no, Usami—was the real light here. She sacrificed herself to the very end just to leave us a hint. There was no way I could let Usami's sacrifice go to waste. Somehow, I had to decipher it.
'Kyoko Kirigiri seemed like she'd already figured out at least part of what Usami meant...'
The words Usami had left behind were "roller coaster" and "how to use the escape code." I still didn't understand the roller coaster part, but the explanation about the escape code's function sounded incredibly useful.
If all we had to do was enter it, and then it would activate automatically if we lost consciousness or died... then, if it was true, we'd be able to wake up safely outside.
Of course, because of the school regulation forbidding us from revealing the secrets of the killing game, we wouldn't be able to explain to the others that we hadn't really died... Wait. If we're going to die anyway, then does it even matter if we say it?
'That's worth thinking about... no, wait. I don't even know the escape code yet. Getting ahead of myself is stupid.'
No matter what, I had to figure out the escape code. Usami's mention of the "roller coaster" had to be the clue. Roller coaster... roller coaster... roller...
"Ah!!"
Suddenly, a memory flashed through my mind—riding that roller coaster seven days before we came here. Yeah. We ended up in this hell because of that damned roller coaster.
'There's definitely some connection to what happened back then...'
"K, are you done yet?"
"Ah, yeah—coming!"
I needed to share this with Kyoko Kirigiri.
.
.
.
"...Kyoko Kirigiri, why are we here?"
"I came looking for a lead."
".....?"
The moment I stepped out of the prize room, Kyoko Kirigiri grabbed me before I could say a word and dragged me back to the guest room we'd been using.
"...I think this is what she was trying to tell us."
As she said that, Kyoko Kirigiri handed me a file from one corner of the room.
"...Th-This is?"
"...It's the prize we received when we rode the roller coaster. She said she changed an 'object,' and this is the only object connected to the roller coaster."
"W-Wait..."
"And I have a rough idea of what part was changed. But... I'm still a little unsure what exactly it's supposed to mean..."
"Th-That was it..."
"...Hm?"
"That was it!! That was it, Kyoko Kirigiri!!!"
"...K?"
"No wonder I felt something was off the first time I saw it!!! So that's what it was!!!"
"You figured out the code?"
"Ah, of course you wouldn't know!! ...Well, yeah. I guess I'm the only one who could look at this and instantly understand what it means exactly...!!"
".....?"
.
.
.
.
.
We entered the code we'd figured out into our E-Handbooks, then stepped out of the room in high spirits—only to run straight into the incident caused by Nidai and Tanaka.
The moment Souda repaired the elevator, Kyoko Kirigiri and I took the lead, rushed to Grape House, stormed into the tower, and fired our guns to stop the tragedy.
After barely surviving a crisis that almost rendered the escape code we'd worked so hard to activate completely meaningless, we realized the time had come.
The instant we tried to tell the others the truth, it was painfully obvious that Enoshima would add a new school regulation using all the kids as hostages, just like what happened with Mukuro Ikusaba in the previous Class Trial. So we decided to leave behind words that could at least give them hope—the words Nanami would originally have left them before making her own sacrifice.
Before coming here, we'd shown Nanami the [Input Complete] screen on our E-Handbooks so she'd understand what was going on. She would lead the others forward with hope from here on out.
Maybe we were placing too heavy a burden on her. But when I remembered the look in her eyes just before we pulled the trigger, I couldn't help feeling reassured. Of course, once we got out of here and rejoined Future Foundation, we'd have to do everything in our power to help everyone too.
Just as we were about to leave our final words behind, the E-Handbook vibrated. Sure enough, because Enoshima is just that petty, a new rule had been added: if we revealed the secret, every single one of the kids would be executed.
The sheer absurdity of it made us laugh. Then we left our final words for the others... and pulled the trigger.
That's right. That's what really happened.
So...
"Even so... I can't be certain whether you two are really K and Kyoko Kirigiri, or Enoshima's Alter Ego after stealing their bodies. And even the tiniest possibility can corrode hope itself. Therefore, I am ordering an indiscriminate bombardment of Jabberwock Island—"
"Have you completely lost your mind!? Did you not hear a single word K just explained over comms!? Munakata!!! I can no longer stand by and watch your abuse of authority any longer—!"
"You two... stay right there... Especially you, K... you'd better prepare yourself..."
"I-Ikusaba...! That's not the issue right now!! We need to stop Munakata first—"
"Hey!! K!! Why the hell did you set the escape code to 11037!? Why my name of all things—what kind of sick joke is that...!?"
I really wish everyone would just calm down.